Tinder and Bumble: The Tab’s guide to using dating apps

Lucy Woodham

4 months ago

Having the perfect profile is essential

There are two different groups when it comes to relationships: those who are serial daters, and those who are always in serious long-term relationships and have never dated in their life. If you're the latter, single life and online dating is a minefield, and getting a date is an endurance test. This guide on how to use Tinder and Bumble will tell you everything you need to know, from Tinder conversation starters, what to do if you have no matches on Tinder and the best Tinder bios to ensure you get the most matches as possible. If you need a full guide to dating, check out this guide to dating.

Tinder conversation starters

Cheesy one liners, shit jokes, asking for sex straight away and "hey xx" are going to get you unmatched quickly and are some of the worst conversation starters. Look at your match's pictures and find a conversation starter out of that. Are they pictured at a festival you've been to? Are they posing with a dog you are more interested finding out about than them? Is there something about them you find particularly attractive e.g. "I do like a man with three different coloured Ralph Lauren shirts". Don't try and be a Romeo or too serious, it's not how to start a Tinder conversation.

A happy swiper

No matches on Tinder?

If you've got no matches on Tinder, it's probably because your profile and pictures aren't inviting enough. Have at least three good quality pictures which show different sides to you e.g. a festival pic, a holiday pic, a pic of you in a nice shirt, a fun picture. Swipers need variety to see if there's any mutual interests. The golden rule is if you wouldn't put it on Instagram, don't put it on your Tinder profile.

Pictures to avoid:

– One single picture of you. Only one pic make us think it's a fake account

– Blurry mirror selfies which look like something you would've used as your Bebo DP in 2007

The best time to get matches

Alongside your pictures (make sure they're decent, not a selfie in a dark room), the bio is the only other way to sell yourself. If you have no imagination go for your uni and work. If you're feeling fruity, go for something self-deprecating and funny. Definitely don't go for a line everyone uses, like "looking for nothing serious…just a wife and three kids", or a load of emojis.

Certain jobs on Tinder pull in the most matches. For women, teachers, dentists and speech pathologists pull the most right-swipes, whereas for men lawyers, actors and creative directors get matched the most.

Go on settings and scroll right to the bottom to where it says delete account. It'll ask you whether you want to pause or fully delete your account. The next page asks you why you want to delete the app, with options including you've met someone or you don't like Tinder. Once you have confirmed you definitely want to delete it, it's gone! If you log into Tinder again a whole new account will be created starting from scratch.